Men's Basketball February 12, 2020 Athletic Communications

ASUN Homestretch Begins as Hatters Return Home Thursday

Stetson men's basketball, firmly entrenched in third place in the ASUN Conference, will try to solidify their spot in the standings while also looking to move up as the Hatters open a two-game home stand against North Alabama, 7 p.m., Thursday at Edmunds Center.

The third-place Hatters (13-12 overall, 7-3 ASUN) enter the weekend with a two-and-a-half game lead on a trio of teams in fourth place, including North Alabama (10-14, 5-6). Stetson is also one-and-a-half games behind conference co-leaders North Florida and Liberty with just six games left on the conference schedule.

The Hatters won for the eighth time in their last 11 games last Thursday with a 65-62 win at FGCU. Freshman Rob Perry scored a game-high 24 points as the Hatters won in Fort Myers for the first time since 2012.

North Alabama dropped a pair of home games last week, falling to Lipscomb (73-71) and Liberty (74-56). Sophomore forward Emmanuel Littles leads the ASUN in rebounding at 10.4 boards per game.

About the Game
•We have officially reached the home stretch of the ASUN season and the Hatters enter the weekend in third place in the ASUN standings, 2.5 games ahead of Jacksonville, Lipscomb and North Alabama, and 1.5 games behind current conference co-leaders Liberty and North Florida.
•Stetson and North Alabama meet for the second time this season and the fourth time overall since the series began last year. Stetson leads the Lions, 2-1, in the series following a 54-49 win in Florence, Ala., last month.
•Freshman Rob Perry, who last week at FGCU broke Stetson's single-season freshman record for 3-point field goals in a season, needs 150 points to become Stetson's leader in points by a freshman. He is chasing Derick Newton's record of 553 points, set during the 2015-16 season.
•Fellow freshman Mahamadou Diawara is also climbing the freshman scoring charts, as his 323 points this season ranks eighth.

Under the Hat
•Stetson is 9-5 in games decided by 5 or fewer points following last Thursday's 65-62 win at FGCU. Stetson has won all 7 of its ASUN Conference games by 5 points or less.
•One year after failing to win a single road game, the Hatters are 8-7 away from Edmunds Center, including 7-6 in true road games. It's the most road/neutral site victories for Stetson since the 1994-95 squad also won 8. The Hatters have two road games remaining in the regular season.
•Rob Perry broke the Stetson freshman record for 3-pointers in a season last Thursday at FGCU when he sank his 62nd trey of the year. Perry broke the previous record of 61 set by Derrick DeWitt during the 1999-2000 season. Perry is within sight of the overall season record of 76, set by Luke Doyle in 2016-17.
•Rob Perry (16.2) and Mahamadou Diawara (12.9) continue to be the highest-scoring freshman tandem in the ASUN Conference at a combined 29.1 points per game. Perry is 10th nationally among all freshmen, and his 34 points at Western Illinois on Nov. 9 is the 3rd-best single-game effort by a freshman this season.
•The Hatters made some history on Dec. 17 when five freshmen (Diawara, Ivery, Kabimba, Panzo, Perry) were in the starting lineup at UNC Asheville, for what's believed to be the first time in program history. The Hatters regularly started four freshmen during the 2010-11 season but research has not yet turned up another all-freshman starting five.

About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program has a vision of developing a culture of champions athletically, academically and within the community. This vision is accomplished through a mission of recruiting and developing student-athletes, coaches and staff, creating a culture of champions, within and outside of competition. The department operates with five core values: Championship Culture, Integrity, Excellence, Pride/Tradition and Leadership. To learn more about the Vision, Mission and Core Values for Stetson Athletics, visit GoHatters.com and click on Mission Statement under the Inside Athletics tab.

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Players Mentioned

#33 Luke Doyle: G; 6' 5"; Senior

#15 Mahamadou Diawara: F/C; 6' 10"; Freshman

#2 Rob Perry: G; 6' 3"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#33 Luke Doyle
: 6' 5"; Senior
: G

#15 Mahamadou Diawara
: 6' 10"; Freshman
: F/C

#2 Rob Perry
: 6' 3"; Freshman
: G

Stetson University Athletics

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ASUN Homestretch Begins as Hatters Return Home Thursday

Players Mentioned

#33 Luke Doyle

#15 Mahamadou Diawara

#2 Rob Perry

Players Mentioned

#33 Luke Doyle

#15 Mahamadou Diawara

#2 Rob Perry